3 Times Tony Stark Forgot
by Mae Stark
Summary: And the one time he remembered.
1. The first time he forgot

This fic was written for a challenge at it's_always_been over at LJ. I had been wanting to write this fic for a while, and finally got the chance. It's one of my favorites, mainly because it was so fun to write. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

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><p><strong>Three Times Tony Stark Forgot (And the One Time he Remembered)<strong>

**The first time he forgot**

"Hey, you." The woman he is calling from across the room remains still, her back to him as she leans down to pour the coffee. Tony catches a glimpse of a muscled thigh from under her skirt as she bends over slightly. She still doesn't hear him, so he calls a little louder. "Hey."

The woman finally turns and makes her way toward him, coffee in hand. "Yes, Mr. Stark?" She answers, red hair bouncing lightly as she moves. The sound of her heels tapping against the hard floor fills the room.

Tony blinks, concentrating. "Vicky."

"Virginia."

"Right, Virginia. Your name is Pepper now."

She narrows her sparkling blue eyes and gently bites her lower lip perplexedly, and Tony is captured by her unintentionally sexy mannerisms. "May I ask why, Mr. Stark?"

He clears his throat. "Because, you've been my personal assistant for two weeks now and honestly, I can't remember 'Virginia'." He takes a step closer to her, willing to risk the sexual harassment lawsuit just to figure out this woman. "And because of all those gorgeous freckles." He leans in, closing the small distance between them, eyes focusing on her lips.

Tony can see her hesitating, torn between her brain and her body. He's not an idiot, and although she's trying to hide it, he can sense her instinctual attraction to him.

But, to his surprise and disappointment, she quickly hands him his coffee and steps away, subtly dodging his advances. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" She looks a bit amused, but her face betrays little else.

Tony nods, stunned. Who is this woman? But he ignores his intellectual impulse, the part of him that is screaming for answers, urging him to figure out how she works. "Yes, that will be all, Ms. Potts."

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><p>The next part will be up soon.<p>

Please review, they're like hugs for writers. We love them.


	2. The second time he forgot

Here's the next part! A bit delayed due to an impromptu trip to the east coast, but here it is, nonetheless...

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><p>Three Times Tony Stark Forgot (And the One Time he Remembered)<p>

He stumbles into the kitchen, searching the cupboards for the one thing that can make him feel better, make him forget, albeit temporarily.

Obie has just dropped him off, back home, to the now-empty house. His house, now– his father has left it to him in the will– but it doesn't feel like his house. It's full of old memories: the corner in the living room where he used to play as a child, the leather couch where he would spend Sunday afternoons with his mother, the slight, patched deformation in the wall where he punched it once after he became angry at his father. It's an empty house, now. He'll probably sell it and buy his own place. He prefers more of a modern style to old charm, anyway.

21 is too young to be alone. He's just lost both of his parents, and is left with everything and nothing. He has no clue what to do or where to go next. Sure, he has the company now, but he really doesn't know what to do with it; he's not his father.

All his life, he's been forced to grow up faster than everyone else and it's finally catching up with him. No one is meant to create circuit boards at age six, or to go to one of the most prestigious colleges in the country at age sixteen. He is physically and mentally mature, but emotionally, he's still just a boy. Normally, he can hide it pretty well, but in the wake of his parents' deaths, what little self-control he had is now gone.

Tony is tearing through the cupboards, seeking the stash of alcohol he knows his father had. He finally finds what he's looking for, and slowly sinks to the floor, tears streaming down his face as he unscrews the cap.

He's drinking to forget.


	3. The third time he forgot

And here's the next part. It's probably my favorite, too.

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><p><strong>The third time he forgot<strong>

The first year she finds the flowers on her desk, she doesn't know what to think. She spends at least ten minutes admiring the gorgeous blue irises and wondering who sent them before her boss enters her office. Upon seeing him, she stands up immediately. "Do you need something, Mr. Stark?"

"That blue goes well with your hair." he remarks instead, sauntering over to her and leaning casually against the edge of her desk.

Pepper reddens a little, obviously thrown off balance by his comment, but ignores him. "Do you need something, Mr. Stark?" she repeats.

Tony smiles, hands fidgeting in search of something to keep them busy. "I know who gave them to you."

This sparks her attention, and she looks up suddenly. "Who was it?" She asks, hoping she doesn't seem too interested.

Tony just shakes his head, grin widening, as he moves to leave her office. He's halfway across the room before she's able to respond. "Wait," Pepper calls, "Mr. Stark!" Now she knows she definitely sounds desperate. She nervously smoothes the imaginary wrinkles in her skirt.

He stops at the door and turns. "Happy Anniversary, Potts." He murmurs, that familiar boyish glint in his eye. Then he leaves, goes back to his office to do Heaven knows what.

From that point on, once a year on May 22nd, on the "anniversary" of Tony hiring her, Pepper receives flowers. The bouquets are left on her desk, sometimes in elegant vases, sometimes wrapped simply with yards of silk ribbons. Tony makes a point of being original with his choices. Pepper receives a variety of flowers: hydrangeas, amaryllises, peonies, snapdragons, hyacinth. One year, after noticing her fondness for art, Tony recreates van Gogh's "Sunflowers", complete with brown-and-gold vase and the most beautiful sunflowers she's ever seen. She's even more surprised when he remembers that orchids are her favorite flowers. She finds them on her desk, tied carefully with snow white ribbons, the light color accentuating the deep magenta of the flowers.

For nearly a decade, Tony gives her flowers once a year, and he never forgets.

Until Afghanistan.

It's not his fault, anyway. He's only just returned home a week ago. And since he's gotten back, he seems… different. Changed, somehow. He's quieter, more reserved and withdrawn, eyes often a bit misty as he contemplates things deep within himself. Pepper is worried about him.

When he finally does remember the flowers, it's nearly a month later. Pepper enters the mansion to find him sitting on the couch, a bouquet of the most stunning purple crocuses she's ever seen on his lap. "Hey. These are for you." He pauses for a minute. "I'm sorry I forgot."

She takes them from him eagerly, gently cradling the flowers against her chest. "They're beautiful, Tony."

"They're wild crocuses from the outskirts of a little village called Gulmira. Picked them myself."

Pepper raises her eyebrows. "When were you in Gulmira?"

He grins impishly, a little of his old mischievousness returning to color his expression. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

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><p>We are nearing the end of this fic! Just one chapter left.<p>

Please read and review. Makes my day!


	4. The time he remembered

Last part!

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><p>It's nearly three in the morning when she gets the call. She throws on the first clothes she sees, grabs her car keys, and heads to the hospital.<p>

When she gets there, he's alive but unresponsive. The doctors tell her that he was flying up from Long Beach in the suit when the micro-turbines in his jet boots inexplicably failed, leaving him to fall nearly 10,000 feet to the ground below. Thank goodness he had armored the suit to protect him against such falls, or else he would have been killed upon impact.

He won't wake up. For nearly 2 months, Pepper spends every waking hour in the hospital, constantly at his side. She doesn't want to leave him alone, to fight the darkness by himself. The doctors tell her that he will most likely never come out of the coma, and if he does, he will have lost all of his previous memories. But she knows that her Tony is in there somewhere, and she refuses to give up.

She can't give up, not without seeing him open those chocolate brown eyes again. There's so much that she still needs to tell him. Pepper is in love with him, but he doesn't know that. She's hidden it from him for years now, but she wants him to know. And it terrifies her that she might not be able to tell him how she really feels.

And she's terrified that he won't remember her, or even himself.

When he finally begins to stir, Pepper is right there, by his side. She watches in astonishment as he opens his deep brown eyes and stares at her. At first, he looks thoroughly bewildered, and her heart sinks. But then, understanding and realization replace the confusion, and he remembers. "Pepper?" he questions, raising a weak hand to rest it against her cheek.

Tears of joy spill up from over her eyelids as she leans into his touch. "Yes, Tony, I'm here."

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><p>And that's the end of this one! Please read and review, if you enjoyed it.<p> 


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